The Gainesville Ripper case began on August 24, 1990, when the bodies of two University of Florida students, Sonja Larson and Christina Powell, were found brutally murdered in their apartment. Over the next few days, three more young people were found dead, including a 17-year-old high school student named Cassie Hoyt. The killings were particularly shocking due to their brutality and the fact that they all occurred in a relatively short period of time. The investigation into the murders was one of the largest in Florida's history, with hundreds of leads and tips being pursued by police. In September 1990, a man named Danny Rolling was arrested in connection with the murders, after a witness reported seeing him near one of the crime scenes. Rolling, a 31-year-old drifter, was subsequently linked to the crimes through DNA evidence and eyewitness testimony. In 1994, Rolling was put on trial for the murders, and was found guilty and sentenced to death. He was executed by lethal injection on October 25, 2006.